June 2017 - Page 2 of 2

4 June, 20174 June, 2017

The Italian Grand Prix did not end as expected for Reale Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz. Yesterday, both riders had a good feeling during qualifying and they had hoped for a successful race today, but nothing went as planned.

The tyre selection was crucial because the race conditions were completely different to the previous two days. But the bet of Hector Barbera and his team to race with the hardest Michelin compound both front and rear turned out to be wrong and the Spaniard finished the race 14th.

Loris Baz started the day with a big crash in the warm-up session in which his Desmosedici was completely destroyed. The mechanics worked against the clock to get everything ready for the race and the French rider of the Reale Avintia hoped to be able to fight for points. But a strong pain in both arms, besides an intense headache, stopped him from improving during the race.

The MotoGP World Championship now heads straight to Barcelona, where the seventh round of the season will take place next weekend.

“I’m not happy. Overall we had a very good weekend, but the race today has been a disaster. I think we went wrong with our tyre choice and I was the one who wanted to race with the hardest compound. But as it turned out in the race, I had no grip. The two Ducatis on the podium today were using the medium compound front and rear, so it is clear that we have made a bad choice. It’s disappointing that we can’t confirm our progress with a good race result. Every time we have everything working in the right way we seem to hit a wall. Now we have to forget this race and think about Barcelona.”

“It’s been a very difficult day and I’ve crash pretty hard in the warm-up this morning. My mechanics have done a great job to get my bike ready for the race, but the problem is that I had the bike and the engine that I liked less. At the beginning of the race I had a hard time to follow the other riders in acceleration. And after five laps I’ve started to feel bad, with pain in my arms and a strong headache, which is rare for me. I only hope to recover to the maximum for next Friday because I want to give it all at Barcelona.”

3 June, 20173 June, 2017

Reale Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Italy from the fifth and sixth row of the grid after qualifying 14^th and 17^th today.

Hector Barbera is getting his feeling back and he already showed yesterday that he can be in the top ten, ending the day in eighth place. Today he improved his pace from Friday by almost 0.5s, but this was not enough to get in Q2 and tomorrow he will start the race in the middle of the fifth row alongside Cal Crutchlow and Jonas Folger. He expects to get a good start tomorrow and to fight for his first top ten finish of the season in the race.

Loris Baz also improved in comparison to the first day and he will start tomorrow’s race from the sixth row of the grid, just behind his Reale Avintia Racing teammate. The French rider worked really hard with his team to get the best of the new Michelin front tyres and he did a big step forward this afternoon, improving both his pace and his feeling.

“We did a big step forward and we were really close to get in Q2. It was a tight session and we finished just two tenths behind Zarco, but I will start the race tomorrow from the best position so far this season. So it is obvious that we have improved. We have a good rhythm for the race and I feel better than ever this year, so I will give my best. The goal is to enjoy riding the bike and if I manage to do it, I’m sure that we can be fighting in the top ten. I think that there is a group from sixth to twelfth with a similar pace, so my target tomorrow is to be battling there.”

“Today we kept working on the set-up and the bike has improved a lot. At the end of the FP4 we had something to test, but the bike stopped and in the end we had to try it in Q1. I’m happy because the pace is much better than yesterday. The chatter has not disappeared completely, but the bike is rideable. Tomorrow will be a long race. Mugello is a very physical circuit and this bike is also more demanding for the rider, so we have to manage the race well and be smart. If we get to the end, we will surely get some important points.”

2 June, 20172 June, 2017

Positive start of the Italian Grand Prix for Hector Barbera: The Reale Avintia Racing rider holds eighth place in the combined time sheets after the first two practice sessions of the weekend. In the morning, Barbera felt fast immediately riding his Ducati Desmosedici GP16 and he finished the session with the fifth fastest lap time. In the afternoon, in much warmer weather conditions, he finished sixth, lapping just two thousandths of a second slower than in the morning. Barbera was the fastest on Mugello’s main straight today, with a top speed of 352.2 km/h. All in all, he had a strong start of the weekend after a tough first part of the season.

Things went the opposite way for Loris Baz, who struggled more during the first day. The 24-year-old French rider suffered to get the best out of the new Michelin front tyres. But he is confident that working hard with his team, they will be able to find a solution in their quest to conquer the best possible spot on the grid.

“I’m very happy because we didn’t start like this since long time ago. The test at Jerez showed us the way, then we were unlucky at Le Mans, but we completed another crucial test in Barcelona before coming here and today we saw the results. The previous five races have been the toughest of my career, because I knew that I had the package and the team to be fighting at the front. I could see how the other riders using my bike were faster than me, but I didn’t have the feeling to push and it was really difficult. This bike was born with winglets, so from Jerez we just concentrated on putting more weight on the front and we could see the improvement every time I was on track. I was sure that I am still capable of riding a bike and that’s the reason why my team always supported me. So I want to say a big thank you, because it finally seems that we took the right direction. We have to build the momentum tomorrow and battle for Q2, and then give our best in qualifying.”

“It was a difficult day for me. We still have to work to set up the bike with the new front tyre, because although I was happy with my performance at the test in Barcelona, today I struggled a lot with chatter and also the front is pushing in every corner. The only positive thing is that we improved from the morning to the afternoon, so I hope we can go even further tomorrow and get the good feelings I had with the previous front tyre. Right now I’m not thinking about Q2, I’m focused on improving, because right now the main thing is to get the best package for the race on Sunday.”